Curd or Dahi (Indian Yoghurt)

Recipe from Dassana Amit



Curd, also known as dahi in Hindi, is a fermented milk product made by adding a small amount of yoghurt starter to warm milk, and allowing it to ferment. It's been prepared traditionally in Indian homes for thousands of years.

Yields:

1 medium bowl of curd

Time Required:

Ingredients:

Preparation:

Boil milk: Rinse a thick-bottomed pan or saucepan with clean water. Pour milk into it, and heat it on the stovetop on medium-low to medium heat.

Stir a couple of times when the milk is getting heated, so that the milk does not get burnt from the bottom.

When milk comes to a boil, it will start rising. Before it spills out, switch off heat. Set pan aside, on kitchen countertop.

Let milk become warm at room temperature.

To check if milk has become warm, dip your little finger (touch method) into milk, and you should feel warm, not hot. The second way is to touch the pan's sides: It should feel warm, not hot.

The third way is to check with a food thermometer, and it should have a temperature between 39-44°C (102-111°F).

Once milk has become warm, you can use the same pan for setting curd, or transfer the warm milk to another bowl.

Make curd: Add 5 mL (1 tsp.) of curd starter to milk, and mix thoroughly with a small wired whisk.

Cover with lid, and allow milk to ferment for 5-6 hours, or until curd is set.

Depending on temperature, it may take more hours. You can also use an Instant Pot's yoghurt function, to set the curd.

On fermentation, curd will have a pleasant fermented aroma and with a slight tangy taste, and it will also have a wobbly thick texture.

Once curd is made, refrigerate it so that it doesn't get overfermented.

If you need sour curd for any recipe, keep the curd for a couple of hrs. at room temperature. This will lead to more fermentation, and curd will become sour or very sour.

You can eat this curd with your meals. You can also add it to variety of recipes, like curd rice, buttermilk, lassi, kadhi, mor kuzhambu, dahi kabab / dahi ke kabab, dahi vada / dahi bhalla, biryani, paneer tikka, or make raita with it.

Storage: As soon as curd is set and fermented well, place it in refrigerator, covered with a lid. Use a clean dry spoon to remove curd, and place bowl or container back in fridge.

Homemade yoghurt or dahi keeps well in fridge for about 4-5 days.

Author's Notes:

Use whole milk, as it makes for a thick creamy curd.

In hot Indian summers, this method works for me. Use pasteurized milk or raw milk that has been boiled earlier, and that is refrigerated. Remove this cold milk from fridge; mix starter with it. Cover bowl, and let mixture ferment for 5-6 hours, or as needed. This saves a bit of time, as you don’t need to heat milk. But note that this method works only in a hot or warm climate. Please don’t use this method with raw milk, or milk that has not been pasteurized or boiled earlier, as it may have some harmful microorganisms. These microorganisms are destroyed when the milk is boiled.

Make sure milk is warm, before you mix starter. Hot milk will kill the bacteria in the starter, and you won’t get a properly fermented curd.

In winters or cold climates, ensure you're not adding curd culture to milk that has cooled down. If milk is cold, then curd won’t set at all, in winter.

It is very important to dissolve the curd culture uniformly in milk. Whisk very well with a spoon or a wired whisk.

Once curd is set, refrigerate for a couple of days.

To keep starter going, remove a few spoonfuls from curd, and either refrigerate or freeze it, in a small covered bowl.

If you don’t have any starter, buy packaged starters, available in health stores or online stores or supermarkets.

The recipe can be scaled. You can make a small or big batch, according to your needs.

Chef's Notes:

Equipment needed: Thick-bottomed pan or saucepan, stirring implement, food thermometer, small wired whisk, spoon.


1 Quarts, pints, cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, and fl. oz. are as defined in US Customary Units, not to be confused with differing British imperial, "legal", "coffee", Commonwealth of Nations, Canadian, Latin American, Japanese, Russian, or Dutch definitions — further proof that everyone needs the metric system.

Taken from: https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/how-to-make-curd-dahi-homemade-curd-dahi/ as the work of Dassana Amit. Thank you!

Collected and re-published at http://linuxmafia.com/~rick/recipes/curd-dahi.html by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> on Oct. 3, 2026. Individual recipes are free from copyright. Share and enjoy!

(If I have any copyright title in my own very minor contributions to this page — not my intention — they were created in 2026 by Rick Moen <rick@linuxmafia.com> and licensed for use under CC0. I have thereby waived all copyright, compilation copyright, and related or neighbouring rights to this work. This work is published from: United States of America.)